Makeup Revolution 12 Days of Christmas Storage Chest

On the Twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…. The biggest Beauty Advent Calendar I have ever seen! I am obsessed with beauty advent calendars. I’ve never had one, but there are so many good ones from so many brands, I want all of them!

And whilst some of them are incredibly beautiful they sometimes carry a hefty price tag, despite containing a lot of sample sized products. And personally, I can’t afford to spend that sort of money on sample sizes, they don’t seem good value for money.

Cue Makeup Revolution. Now they do offer a Beauty Advent Calendar (RRP £30.00) that I have no doubts will be a nice one, but it was this little gem that caught my eye. Originally priced at £50.00 from Superdrug, it was reduced to £25.00! For 12. FULL. SIZED. PRODUCTS. A complete bargain that easily outstrips anything High Street brands (or High End, for that matter) could offer me.

It comes in a GORGEOUS Matte black box with a filigree rose gold design on the lid, and opens like a little treasure chest. “You can never have too much makeup” claims the lid, and for this I have to agree.

Each product is clearly labelled, and you get such a range of products, clearly intended to help you get that perfect holiday makeup look. Minus the foundation, there is every single product here that would allow you to get a full face of makeup, starting from the priming spray right down to the finishing spray. This case contains everything you will ever need this holiday season.

Naturally, I didn’t use it as an advent calendar, and just cracked each product open to try the minute it landed on the doorstep.

Lip Gloss Nude Edit (RRP £6.00) – I wasn’t completely sure about how much use these would get, as I’m not really a lip gloss person. Despite the misleading name they aren’t all glosses; there’s actually one liquid lipstick, one cream and one high gloss. However, they all come across more like liquid lipsticks, the colours are so pigmented. I’ve not really tried many nude shades before, I much prefer reds and pinks, so I was actually quite pleased when these suited me more than I thought they would. I can see the darkest shade being the one I use most, but equally I was impressed by the glosses, so might actually get more use from these than I originally anticipated.

Ultra Strobe Balm Palette (RRP £8.00) – I was late to the contour party and completely missed the train when it comes to strobing! This palette contains 8 illuminating shades that look like they’ve come straight from the unicorn factory! They seem ultra creamy and easy to blend, and I’m very much looking forward to giving strobing a go, especially during springtime. I’m not going to review this too much, as I’m planning on doing a more in depth review later when I’ve had a chance to play around with it. Watch this space.

Blush Palette in shade Dream Blush(RRP £6.00) – You know I love these blush palettes! I reviewed one of the Makeup Revolution palettes here, and this one is exactly the same in terms of quality. The 8 shades are all lovely dusky rose colours, so wearable, and will look gorgeous in springtime. The thing I love about their blushes are the fact they blend so well into the skin for a very natural flush, but are incredibly pigmented for something more dramatic.

Aqua Priming Base Water (RRP £6.00) – Priming sprays and waters are everywhere, so I was pleased to receive this. I love using a primer, and have noticed a massive improvement to the longevity of my makeup, so I’ll be interested to see how a spray works too. This is a 100ml bottle so should last quite a while, as you only need 1 or 2 pumps for a full coverage. This one claims to hydrate skin and boost your complexion, which might take away the ‘powdery’ feel of a matte finish.

Makeup Fixing Spray (RRP £5.00) – I’ve not really given these a go. I tried the Maybelline version but didn’t like the way it felt on my face, but can’t quite bring myself to spend the money on Urban Decays version. With the quality of Makeup Revolutions products to date, I think that this might be a good option for those on a budget.

Ultra Contour Stick (RRP £5.00) – I couldn’t find this listed on any stockists, so I’m not sure if it’s Limited Edition or not. Based on the Ghost Contour Stick I’ve guessed its value at around £5. This is essentially a dupe of the NYX Wonder Stick, in the sense it’s a dual ended highlight/Contour Stick. I really like the NYX version, and have no doubt I’ll love this too. It’s so easy contouring with a stick formation, that even a complete beginner like me can do it! Once I’ve tried it a few times, I’ll have to do another ‘NYX vs Makeup Revolution: which is better?’ post.

Ultra Strobe Cream (RRP £8.00) – I’ve said before that Makeup Revolution are great for dupes, and this is no exception. A replica of MACs Strobe cream, this is £16.50 cheaper. Intended to be worn under foundation as a dewy primer or on top of foundation as a highlight, this has a lovely iridescent sheen that’ll add that sought after glow without making you look like a disco ball.

Ultra Strobe Stick (RRP £5.00) – Again, couldn’t find this anywhere so I’ve guessed at the price. You’re certainly not going to need any more highlighters after buying this box! Similar to the Contour Stick, this dual ended product boasts a golden highlight and an iridescent pink highlight. Due to the smaller size, it allows a more targeted application to areas, specifically the top of the cheek bones, inner eye and brow bone. The colours are universally flattering to all skin tones, and again can be built up for a more dramatic look, depending on your mood.

Focus and Fix Eye Primer (RRP £2.50) – This isn’t something I’ve ever felt I needed, so I’ve never brought one. I’ll give it a go and see how I get on, but I remain unconvinced about whether an eye primer is comething I really need, or whether it’s just a bit of a gimmick.

HD Pro Brows (RRP £8.00) – I used to use brown kits a lot before I switched to a pencil for convenience. This is a great palette. I’d say it’s suitable for medium to dark haired girls, although there is a slightly ashy blonde/brown shade. There are 6 pans in varying brown shades; 4 powders and 2 waxes. There are also 4 highlight and Strobe shades; 1 wax, 2 creams and a powder. I find powders can be difficult and messy to apply, but with a little practice, I can see this being incredibly useful, particularly when travelling.

Eyeshadow Palletes x 2 (RRP £6.00) – I was the most excited for these products, as I was looking at the eyeshadow palettes about 3 weeks prior to buying this, but talked myself out of buying them. The first palette, Matte Forecast Edit 2017, consists of all matte shadows in mostly neutral shades. There are 18 shades, and only 1 is a bright coral shade. These are incredible, and will easily become my go-to palette. I love matte shadows, and was impressed with the pigmentation of these. They do seem a little powdery, so I have a feeling there will be fallout, but I’m going to get a lot of use out of this.

The second palette, Matte 18 Edit, again consists of 18 neutral shades, of which 6 are slightly shimmery (Misleading for a palette that’s called the Matte 18 Edit…). Again, completely wearable colours and will get a lot of use. This is probably the better of the two as there are shimmer shadows that make this palette more suited to day/night transitioning, but there’s something about an all matte palette that I love.

Total cost of products included in this set? £71.50. An absolute STEAL when you think I only paid £25 for it.

Do I think it is worth the original £50.00 price tag? Yes and no. You do get a lot of produce here, all of which are full size, but it can get slightly repetitive with the amount of highlight/Strobe products included, particularly if you aren’t big on the highlighting trend. It would have been nice to have more variety of products, like a powder contour kit or foundation. This way it could be packaged as a ‘look in a box’. But yes, all the products are extremely useful and universal to most people.

I think, generally speaking, Makeup Revolution are absolutely killing it with the quality of the products they have available to offer, all of which can be likened to High End counter parts. Whether you are new to makeup and just building a collection, or are a seasoned pro like myself (yeah right 😉) this is definitely something worth treating yourself to.